My mums got a 1996 polo with 1.0lt AER engine fitted. Shes been complaining about it being sluggish sometimes. I just put it down to her but when i was in it the other day with her i could feel just how slow it actually was. Sometimes its like lightening from the lights. other times its like a snail. I cannot hear any missfire and there is no jumping and backfiring to suggest a missfire. Idle seems fine and not low. When the problem occurs the engine still pulls smoothly but just very slowly. There are no lights on the dash suggesting a issue (not sure if it has a light). Any ideas???

I've advised her to get a set of plugs/air filter/oil filter and oil for it as we dont know when they were last changed.

Edited 1 May, 201214 yr by marks152

A service will certainly do it some good. Would suggest you also fit a petrol filter if it hasn't had one of late.

It may also pay to clean the throttle body.

Could there be any other cause - brakes binding for example?

Regards.

Add HT leads (ignition leads) to your list of service items...

PoloD.

I'm not sure whats been done to the car. Shes only had it about 2 months. brakes seem ok. Well I'm saying its ok. I've not actually checked them but it pushes easy enough. When she bought it the starter motor was making a horrible grinding noise like it was jumping teeth. I removed the starter motor and the brass bush in the gearbox housing was not there. New bush fitted and its perfect now but i used the car for a few days so i was push starting it. I asssume if i was able to easily pushstart that this would indicate brakes were not sticking.

An afterthought from my reply the other day - Is there any chance that the clutch may be slipping?

Regards.

you can easily check if your clutch is splipping because the revs will be increasing faster than the car is increasing in speed, a good way to test this is to find a steep hill to go up and change to a high gear and put your foot down and see if the revs rise quickly

craig

Edited 5 May, 201214 yr by dubownerbilco

you can easily check if your clutch is splipping because the revs will be increasing faster than the car is increasing in speed, a good way to test this is to find a steep hill to go up and change to a high gear and put your foot down and see if the revs rise quickly

craig

Nope clutch isnt slipping. The revs dont shoot up or become erratic. They just steadily climb with the speed. If i had to hazard a guess id say consistant with a plug breaking down but the car sounds normal if you know what i mean. Ill get the parts and service it and see how it goes from there. Its just strange how its like a rocket 1 minute and a snail the next.